Escape
by modernlifehistorian
Summary: Lucy and Wyatt both have things they're running from. But what about what they should be running towards? Spoilers for 2x04 Hollywoodland and 2x05 Salem Witch Trials
1. Chapter 1

The only thing she could hear was the screaming of the townsmen, yelling obscenities, calling for her to be burned as she was led to the gallows. Their fiery torches were the only things she could see. But to be honest they were the last things on her mind.

Who knew if Rufus or Flynn were going to be there in time to help her out of this? Who even knew where they were? The last she had seen them they were running off to chase a Rittenhouse lead one direction while she continued to search for answers among the women of Salem. And all it took was one slip up in her question for her to be thrown in a dirty old cell with other women, accused of witchcraft.

And now here she was.

But at this point death didn't seem like the worst path to take. She truly had lost everything. Her mother was still rampaging through time. Amy was still gone. History was being decimated. And now she could add Wyatt to the list.

She couldn't deny it. She loved him. She had loved him for longer than she realized, but that was lost now. It's hard for her to imagine that less than a week ago they had been wrapped around each other in the beautiful hotel in 1940s Hollywood blissfully unaware of the storm that was going to hit as soon as they got back to 2018.

" _Wyatt, Jessica's been calling. You might want to get back to her."_ Jiya had said so nonchalantly, but it didn't take her long to notice the look of shock across the faces of the time team. Before she had a chance to ask what was wrong, Wyatt was gone, leaving Lucy feeling like some had reached into her body and stolen any oxygen she had. Rufus attempted to reach out to her, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold it together if he tried to comfort her. So she quickly evacuated the main operation center of the Silo, finding the darkest, most isolated corner she could find, and cried.

She had no doubt in her mind how the events of the next few hours would go. Wyatt, after verifying that his wife was indeed alive again, would come in search of her, probably in some hopes to make a clean break of something that had barely begun anyway. He would try to console her, but she wasn't an idiot. Far from it in fact. Nor was she some romantic soul who believed that Wyatt would actually abandon his wife for her. No, because she had already witnessed him risk everything to get Jessica back. Risk his freedom. Risk his job. Risk _her._ So after she finished her moment of weakness, she would put on a brave face, smile like everything was normal, and continue her job. Because that was the only thing she had to hold onto now.

Her predictions proved accurate. Wyatt did come in search of her and try to explain himself, but she held up a hand and told him there was nothing to explain. All they had was one fun night, right? What did he owe her? And when he had tried to protest, she pushed her way past him, saying she should probably find a new barrack to sleep in though. He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away only for a second before releasing her and just muttering a biting "fine." She knew she was probably being unfair; he must be having a hard time with all of this too, but she couldn't bring herself to talk with him about it anymore. It would be easier for both of them this way. She cast one last fleeting glance his way before walking away, and that was the last time she saw him. The next day when they were preparing the plan for the next jump to 1692, Christopher said he was going to be taking leave from the next couple jumps to get filled in on the last few years of memories Jessica had, but he didn't, so Flynn would be taking his position on missions.

That had surprised her and worried her. She had been partially responsible for getting him locked up in the first place. Could she trust him to protect her and Rufus over eliminating Rittenhouse? She had the answer now.

"Alright, Witch, you first," the man holding arm too tightly growled in her ear and began pushing her up the creaky wooden steps to the noose.

It would be so easy to just let it happen. Then all this hell would be over. Maybe where she went she would see Amy and her dad. Two of the only people she knew truly loved her. Yeah that would be easy.

But if there was one thing Lucy Preston knew how to see clearly, it was the larger picture. It had been what she fought for when she watched her hero, Lincoln, shot in front of her, when she pulled Wyatt out of near suicide at the Alamo, when she pulled the trigger on an unarmed Jesse James, and stopped Flynn from destroying all of Rittenhouse in 1954. This was bigger than her, bigger than her current pain. She had a job to do. Rufus and Flynn needed her. Mason and Jiya and Christopher needed her. Her mother needed her. History needed her. Wyatt had once told her to figure out what she was fighting for, and it was clearer now more than ever.

So she wasn't' going to give up. She breathed deeply as they reached the top of the platform and thought one single thought. _Escape._ Houdini's words remained with her even now at the edge of death like it had in the box in HH Holmes' basement. As the man released her arm to prepare the knot around her neck, she reached her hand into the concealed back pocket of her skirt where a knife had been hiding. _All the near death experiences we find ourselves in, you should probably have at least some kind of weapon on you,_ Wyatt had laughed as they were getting dressed to go to 1955. So now here he was, saving her again, even though he wasn't actually there.

"Lucy!" she heard a voice shout from the crowd. _Rufus!_ His shout had offered enough distraction for her to cut through the ropes on her wrists, push the executioner from the platform, slip the rope from around her neck, and make a mad dash to where she finally saw Rufus and Flynn in the rabid mob.

"We got the Rittenhouse operative," Rufus told her as they all began their run back to the Lifeboat. "Let's get out of here." As she took her seat in the Lifeboat, she breathed a sigh of relief. There was no denying the ache in her heart that Wyatt wasn't there to offer some dumb, but funny one-liner and buckle her seat belt (even though she had known how to buckle it herself since maybe their third time in the machine), but she knew now that she could do this. Save history. Even if it meant she had to do it without Wyatt by her side.

 _A/N: Don't be fooled. I will ship Lyatt til the day I die, but I like to believe that even after Jessica comes back, Lucy will continue to kick butt even if she believes the man she loves is gone from her. Because Lucy is too much of a boss to give up because of Wyatt._


	2. Chapter 2

He heard it in passing what had happened. Lucy had been seconds away from being hung as a witch while they were in 1692. The thought made him nauseous. Lucy, with a thick, daunting rope wrapped around her neck, inches from death because he had abandoned his team. Abandoned her. When they need him most.

It had just all happened so fast. He and Lucy having an oddly amazing time in 1941 considering why they were there. Being this ridiculous musical duo in order to get the information they need (and _man_ could Lucy sing) before falling into bed together that night. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so utterly in bliss. All the pent up passion they held towards each other came to a head in that one moment, and he couldn't believe how thrilled he was to explore their possibilities when they returned to 2018.

But then " _Wyatt, Jessica's been calling. You might want to get back to her."_ He heard the words, and without another thought he was darting past Jiya and Mason and Christopher to his barrack where the burner phones they had been provided was waiting with 4 missed calls:

 _Jessica Logan_

 _Jessica Logan_

 _Jessica Logan_

 _Jessica Logan_

For a moment he almost couldn't believe it, but when he called the number, it was _her._ Her soft, loving voice. Alive. His wife was alive. He was so caught up in that that he couldn't register a thing she was actually saying, but finally it hit him like the winds back home in Texas.

 _Lucy._

The woman that just hours ago he had held in his arms, stroking her soft, pale skin as they exchanged sweet, yet passionate kisses, talking about all that had led them there and maybe where they could go from there. What she must have been feeling now. Especially after he had just took off at the mention of his dead-not-dead wife. The last time he had felt like this much of an ass was the night Jess went missing. But clearly that never had happened now because here she was still chatting away on the phone like it was any other day. And to her it must have seemed like it. Because it was. What had their relationship been like the past few years? Did she know about time travel? Did she know Lucy and Rufus? Rittenhouse? How was she alive now and not when he eliminated her supposed killer from existence? What changed? He could have continued listening to her talk, but he knew there were some things he _had_ to figure out before he had any real conversations with her.

"Hey...Jess?"

" _Yeah, babe?"_

"I actually have to go take care of a few things right now," he lied. Kind of. "Pretty urgent. Could I call you again later?"

" _Oh, yeah.. Of course. Military secrets and all that, I'm guessing?"_ she sighed.

"Oh, definitely," he continued. "I love you." _Why did that feel odd to say?_

" _Love you too."_ And then the line went dead. He took a second to wrap his mind around all that had just happened. What the _hell_ was he supposed to do? Jess was alive with memories of a life he only knew pieces of. Lucy was alive, somewhere in the Silo, making him feel things he hadn't felt since he first met Jess over a decade before.

But one thing he did know was that he was going to have to face Lucy sooner or later, and for both their sakes he probably needed to do it sooner. He threw the phone onto the poor excuse for a bed, and began his search for the brunette. It took a little longer than he anticipated as she had found the darkest, farthest corner in the entire bunker to deal with whatever she was feeling. And by what he saw, she wasn't feeling great. She shot up as soon as began to approach her, but she couldn't hide the tear streaks that covered her face, her Hollywood make-up smeared under her eyes.

"Lucy, I'm so sorry. I-"

"Sorry for what?" she interrupted in an oddly casual voice. "We had one fun night, right? You don't owe me an explanation for loving your wife." He was honestly too shocked to speak. Shocked with her calmness. Shocked by her words. And honestly a little angered by her words as well. One fun night? Was that all it really was to her?

"Lucy, come on…" but it was too late; she was already trying to make her way around him.

"I should probably find a new barrack to sleep in though," she muttered as she began to walk away, but he wasn't going to let her go that easily. He reached out and grabbed her arm, desperate for her to show some of the anguish he was feeling. They met eyes for just a second, but that was all he needed to really understand what was going on in her mind. He had never seen a look of such pain yet such coldness from her before especially directed at him. It shocked him, so he let her go.

"Fine," he snapped. And she was gone.

He went to Christopher and explained that in the reality he left before 1941 his wife had been dead, and he would need some help filling in the gaps of the years he had remembered without her, and it might be best if he didn't go on the next jump or two, you know, to get readjusted to this new old life. Not to avoid Lucy or anything. He was surprised with how easily the homeland security agent agreed to his requests.

"Wait, so who are you going to get to fill in for me?" he asked, knowing the team would need someone who could use a gun.

"Flynn." Christopher sighed, and Wyatt felt his stomach twist into knots. "It's too risky now to bring in anyone else." _Flynn?_ Could he really be trusted to protect Rufus and Lucy? While Wyatt was indeed reckless, Flynn took the word to a whole new level. Would he choose to save either of his teammates over destroying Rittenhouse? He opened his mouth to retract his request to take time off, but Christopher was already walking out the door, ready to prep the team for its next mission.

Wyatt ran out the door after her, checking to see where she was headed. It seemed as if the agent wasn't going directly to the cell to release Flynn, so Wyatt took off in that direction, needing a word with the former terrorist before he joined his team.

"Master Sergeant Logan," the guard greeted. "what are you doing-"

"I need to speak with Flynn. Now." Wyatt demanded. The guard nodded quickly and unlocked the door giving just enough room for Wyatt to squeeze in. It took a second for Flynn to look up from his intertwined hands.

"Master Sergeant," Flynn stood in mock respect. "What can I do for you?" Wyatt moved forward until the two men were toe to toe.

"You let anything happen to her, and no cell, no guards, nothing is going to keep me from putting a bullet in your head." He didn't bother giving any context to his statement; he didn't have the time, but he knew Flynn would understand momentarily, and Wyatt wouldn't hesitate to go through with his promise.

And from what he now had knowledge of, he hadn't been far from having to fulfill it. Lucy had almost died only because he had been too afraid to face her again. So how did she get out? He kept listening intently Mason's people chattering on about the events they had heard.

"Apparently when they were about to drop her, she pulled a knife on the guy!" One of them shared. He couldn't help but smile at that. He had told her a while back that she should probably start carrying some kind of weapon, and he wasn't surprised at all that she had gotten herself out of such a tight situation. His Lucy... _His?_ Lucy had proven so resourceful over the course of their couple years of time traveling together. Whether it was talking or fighting her way out of the dangers they faced, she had saved Rufus and himself probably more times than they had saved her. He knew she had certainly saved him. Saved him from the darkness of himself and his grief and his anger. She was the reason he continued to fight through everyday. It wasn't Jessica or Grandpa Sherwin anymore. It was _her._ After hearing the news of her near death he couldn't fight it anymore. Wyatt Logan was in love with Lucy Preston. Her brain. Her clumsiness. Her quirks. Her inability to buckle a seatbelt. Her dedication to history. _Her._

And again he was left cursing his situation. Even a year ago he would've given the world to have Jessica back. But now? Now his heart had finally moved on, and he couldn't just go back. But was that fair to Jessica? From what he had discovered over the past couple days, their marriage was thriving. So how could he just throw all of that away? His head was left throbbing at all the confusion swirling around in his head that he hardly noticed when Agent Christopher came in the room.

"Master Sergeant… _Wyatt?_ " she called. Wyatt's head finally shot up.

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" he asked, trying to ignore the pain in his head.

"I think you need to come see this." Her voice sounded almost sympathetic. What was going on? Was it Lucy? He stood up and followed her into what they usually used as a briefing room where a couple of Mason's agents were sitting around a computer. He came around to look at what seemed to be making them so nervous. And then he understood.

"The team found this on the Rittenhouse operative in 1692," Christopher explained. It was a list of Rittenhouse operatives from every era of American history. All across the globe. And clear as a day near the bottom of the list.

 _Amanda Smith_

 _Alias: Jessica Logan_

Wyatt couldn't do much else other than stand and stare. Jessica? Rittenhouse? It just didn't make sense. Or did it? Maybe that was why eliminating Wes Gilliam didn't bring her back like it should have. Maybe that was why he was selected for the project in the first place. Rufus had been blackmailed by the shadow organization from the beginning. Lucy was practically Rittenhouse royalty. He had been the odd ball with no connection. Until now. Maybe that's why he was chosen in the first place. He had to grab hold of a chair to keep from falling over because in that moment he realized the wife he had fought so hard to get back had been his enemy the whole time.

"We have agents going to bring her in now," Christopher informed him. "Did you share anything confidential with her?"

"No," was all he could manage. He felt sick. But at the same time… relieved? Like he didn't have to feel guilty about being in love with Lucy anymore, and after he had time to process everything, he would tell her exactly how he felt.


	3. Chapter 3

Or at least that's what he told himself. Days passed and he hardly saw Lucy except at dinner or during briefings. Jess, or Amanda, had been arrested and put in a secure holding area along with all the other Rittenhouse members they had collected, and while he hadn't been able to bring himself to face her directly, he did watch her interrogation. _Always loyal,_ she had confessed. _I have and always will be loyal to Rittenhouse,_ she sneered like she was mocking them. He hardly recognized her like this, and despite the fact that his first love and marriage had been a complete lie, and he now was absolutely head over heels for a certain brunette who now lived down the hall and avoided his presence at every turn, he still took a couple weeks to get his mind around everything. Those couple weeks included a time jump without Lucy (he hated those) to go try and save young JFK. It was unorganized and chaotic without their historian, and it led to them having to knock out Jack Kennedy and physically bring him back to the present in order to get him away from Rittenhouse.

"Please tell me that's not who I think it is," Lucy had pleaded, to Rufus not to him, when they drug him out of the Lifeboat.

"It's not who you think it is," Rufus lied because of course Lucy would be able to tell who it was. "Unless you think it's young JFK then it's exactly who you think it is." The look she gave them after that was somewhere between 99 and 100% done with their crap.

"And why would a young JFK be in 2018 as old JFK has been dead for 55 years?" she questioned. Even with all that was going on, Wyatt was relieved for some of her snarkiness to be back.

"Things got a little out of hand," Rufus began to explain all that had gone on and Lucy, genius that she was, got directly to work, figuring out and explaining to himself and Rufus what needed to be done.

"And I don't think I can emphasize this enough," she concluded. "For the sake of our reality you _cannot_ fail."

And thankfully they didn't, at least according to Lucy. JFK still became president, still made his famous man on the moon speech, still handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, and still was assassinated on November 23, 1963.

"Good work, team," Agent Christopher praised. "We'll let you know when we have anymore information." Rufus left to go find Jiya, Lucy continued working on whatever it was she was working on, and Wyatt just stood there outside the Lifeboat, contemplating what to do next. He was itching to reach out and touch Lucy, take her in his arms and never let go, but he knew that would be way too much. Regardless of the insane circumstances they had faced over the past couple weeks, he had still hurt her, held her precious heart in his hands and crushed it in the blink of an eye, but he could no longer take the silence between them. He missed talking and laughing with his best friend and he missed the thrill of the blooming relationship they had created, and he was going to do everything in his power to regain all that.

"Lucy?" he approached cautiously.

"What is it, Wyatt?" she responded nonchalantly, not evening looking his direction. "I'm kind of busy."

"Do you think we could go talk somewhere?" he asked.

"Wyatt," she sighed. "Like I said, I'm busy trying to take down this secret society looking to destroy everything we know, so can it possibly wai-"

"No, Lucy," Wyatt pressed harder. He was done with playing coy. "I have some things I need to say, and I could either say them out here for anyone to hear, or we could just go somewhere for a second and talk like adults." She finally turned to meet his eyes, he expected the fierce blaze that lie in them, but what he had been missing where the deep, dark circles under her eyes that he, among other things, caused. He couldn't shy away though. It was time to face it.

"Fine," she said curtly, standing up from the desk. "Lead the way." He nodded and began to walk down the main corridor to where they all slept, finally entering the room where they had almost kissed all those weeks ago.

"Please make it quick, Wyatt," she sighed, going back to avoiding his gaze.

"I'm gonna make it as damn long as it needs to be," he stated. "Until I finish with everything I have to say."

"Okay," she sniffed, brushing some hair from her eyes and crossing her arms. "Say it."

"Lucy," he said quietly but firmly, gently grabbing her up around the shoulders so she would look at him. "I am _so sorry._ This is never what I had intended to happen. I was just shocked when I heard Jessica's name. I shouldn't have run off so fast, and I should never have let you walk away. I shouldn't have-"

"Yes, Wyatt, you say a whole lot of 'shouldn't have' s now," Lucy snapped. "But that's because of all you know now. I'm sorry about Jessica turning out to be Rittenhouse, but no matter what the reason, you still ran back to her, leaving me with Flynn to nearly be hung in 1692. I _should've_ known that this was a mistake from the beginning. Of course you had never moved on, never were ready for _possibilities_. You've jeopardized our mission more than once to get her back. And that's _fine_ , Wyatt. I wouldn't ask you to stop loving your wife for me. I wouldn't ask you to move on if you weren't ready, but don't come crawling to me like I'm a consolation prize compared the woman you really love whether she's dead or evil." Those words seemed to cut the deepest. _Good_ , she thought. She was probably being immature and letting her anger best her, but she wasn't going to let this go so easily.

"If you want things to go back to the way they were before my mother, before WWI, before this," she gestured between them. "Fine. It'll take time and a lot of effort to earn my trust back, but I do I miss that too, but, as far as _we_ go…" she couldn't help but taste the awful words she was about to spit out before she said them. "That chance is gone." For a moment there was complete silence in the rusted old bunker and Wyatt just stood there, staring at her. She couldn't tell exactly what he was feeling, but it was clear she got her point across. He finally dropped his hand from her shoulders and cleared his throat.

"So what's next then?" he sounded defeated.

"I'm happy to go back to how it was before Hollywoodland. Trust me, I didn't like not having you there in Salem, and from what happened with JFK you missed me too, so we keep tackling the missions together with Rufus, and try to finish all this." She said it like it would be so easy, but Wyatt knew that, at least for him, it was going to be more like it was back in 1937 than anything else. Strangers bickering over every move. Only now it would strangers turned friends turned lovers turned strangers bickering over everything. No this wouldn't be like 1937 or 1954 or 1941 or anything they had experienced before, but Wyatt agreed with a nod of his head before exiting the room. Because at least Lucy was still there, and he would not take that for granted again.

A/N: update: there will be a fourth chapter! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

More weeks go by, more members of Rittenhouse are stopped from decimating history, some history changes, but all the team is still there, waiting out what feels like a prison sentence in the Silo. Day after day of the same food, the same smells, the same bare walls, and the same people. Lucy knew there was a way and a person she could look to in order to ease the dullness, ease her weary heart, but she had adamantly shut that door. There was no going back from the words she had shot his way. So she just continued with her focus being on destroying Rittenhouse, so she could get out of this doomsday tube, get back to her old life, and move on from a certain Master Sergeant. But when she thought about it, there wasn't much of her old life left to return to. No mom, no Amy, no position at Stanford. She knew she could easily let the weight of that pain crush her, but she kept pushing on. She was only so strong though. In the complete darkness of the lonely nights in her solitary bunker, she cried, and when she managed to fall asleep after crying, nightmares plagued her, and after they had shook her awake, she would spend the rest of the night lying awake and staring at the ceiling, wishing she had let them hang her in 1692.

" _I've lost everything,"_ she had told Wyatt the night they retrieved her from 1918.

" _You haven't lost me,_ " he had said so certainly, holding her tightly in his arms. That didn't last long, did it? Within a month she had lost him too. But she'd took her stance, and she was going to stick to it, no matter what pain she was feeling.

When another night came where sleep eluded her, she finally gave up even trying, and made her way to the mess area to make some coffee and get a _very_ early start on the day.

"Hey, Lucy." The historian nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Jiya's voice. "I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that."

"No worries," Lucy said half-heartedly, continuing the menial task of making a coffee. Of all the people currently residing in the Silo, Jiya's presence was the most comforting to Lucy. Jiya helped her fill the aching hole that had formed when Amy disappeared. "I know why I'm awake at this God awful hour, but why are you?" Lucy asked.

"Headache," Jiya grimaced, placing her forehead against the metal table. "When I get one at night, I tend to toss and turn, and as much as Rufus says it doesn't bother him, I know it does, so… here I am." Lucy felt a tad quilty for wallowing in so much self pity. What Jiya was going through had to be terrifying, and no one knew what was actually wrong.

"I'm sorry," Lucy whispered, putting her hand Jiya's shoulder. "Can I pour you a drink? Or at least some of this place's sorry excuse for coffee?"

"Coffee, please," Jiya mumbled. For the first time in a while Lucy felt a genuine smile come across her face. As odd as it seemed, caring for someone who was sick reminded her of a time before all this. When she had Amy and her real mother. _But what about all you've gained,_ she asked herself? Despite all the insanity and terror that came with being a member of this time team, she had been given the opportunity to experience history and be a part of it, she had gained some of the closest friends she'd ever had, and she had fallen in love. No matter how much pain it had caused her in the now, the falling had been thrilling, and she wouldn't change a thing. At least anything up until they returned from 1941, but no use of dwelling on that now.

"So, I won't force you to talk about it," Jiya began and Lucy knew where she was headed. "But what happened with Wyatt?" Yep, there it was. "Y'all are traveling together again, but all the magic is gone."

"Magic?"

"Yeah," Jiya laughed, finally bringing her head up from the table. "You two could not have been so oblivious to the sparks you always created around each other. With the sarcastic quips, and the banter, and the longing looks when the other wasn't looking. That's all gone now." Lucy had to admit that she had never thought of it that way. Her's and Wyatt's way of interacting had just come so naturally to her. She didn't tend to be super sassy with people she didn't know, but she'd been that way with Wyatt since the beginning; she thought nothing of it until now.

"Jiya, how do remember all this?" Lucy wasn't trying to dodge the question, but as far as Jiya knew, Wyatt had never _not_ been married in this timeline.

"It's difficult to explain, but the visions they, uh… I've been starting to see multiple timelines," she admitted. "Like I remember the timeline where John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln just as well as this new one, and one where there was no communist attack on the moon landing and then there was. They're all just side by side." Lucy wanted to press further, ask her why she hadn't told anyone, but Jiya interrupted her. "And I also remember a timeline where, yeah, Wyatt had an ache in his heart for Jessica, but that ache had started to be filled by you," she smiled like that would offer Lucy some hope. "Magic," she whispered excitedly.

"That wasn't magic, Jiya," Lucy mumbled. "That was… a man who missed his wife and me who was dumb enough to fall for him." She couldn't miss the smile that flashed across Jiya's face at her admission, but that look soon was exchanged for sympathy.

"Lucy, do you really not know how Wyatt feels about you?" she sounded genuinely shocked.

"I thought I did, Jiya. You wouldn't have believed the time we had together in 1941," Lucy paused to soak in the memory of it. "But when we got back it all became clear. What he wanted from me was to be a placeholder for the woman who held his heart first." Jiya kept her eyes locked on Lucy, and Lucy was a little shocked when her smile only grew bigger.

"Lucy," she laughed. "You really _don't_ know, do you?"

"Don't know what?"

"Lucy, the guy almost went _nuts_ waiting around here for six weeks to go find you!" she began excitedly like she was the first to share a juicy piece of gossip. "I caught him punching a mirror in the bathroom, and believe me it wasn't because he was super anxious to take out Rittenhouse! He tried to cut through the metal doors, he was snapping at everybody, _especially_ anyone who tried to get him to admit that you might be dead, when we got the Lifeboat working again, he didn't waste a second, he didn't even take a minute to change to period appropriate clothes before they left, he told Agent Christopher when she said she was going with them that no one was going to sit there but you, and you wanna know what Rufus told me?" Jiya paused for a response, but Lucy just continued to sit there, speechless. "He told me that Wyatt stood in the tent they found you in in a trance after you walked away, and he wouldn't deny his love for you! Lucy, you have to understand that this guy is absolutely crazy about you. He was just in shock with the whole Jessica thing. I mean what else was he supposed to do? The fact that she turned out to be Rittenhouse was just fate's way of saying that you guys are meant to be together." Again Lucy just continued to sit there, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

"And you know what the biggest teller for me was, Lucy?" she was speaking softer now. "Back when he stole the Lifeboat, he went to _you_ before he went through with it. Why? It would have become painfully clear the next morning that the Lifeboat had been stolen, he didn't really need you to tell Agent Christopher what had happened. You would have been just as clueless as the rest of us. Just as innocent of any crime. He would have changed history and you wouldn't have been none the wiser. But he came to _you._ He trusted you enough to tell you his insane plan. What is that, Lucy?" Again when Lucy didn't answer, Jiya pressed on. "That's _love._ " Lucy was finally aware of the tears streaming their way down her face. She had cried a lot the past few months, but this felt completely different. They were tears of… happiness? Shock? ...love?

"I'm sorry if that was a lot," Jiya pulls back looking almost embarrassed. "But you deserve to know. And I'm not by any means saying you should go run into his arms right now because he's definitely not blameless in all this, but at least tell me you'll think about it?" Lucy finally broke her aimless stare only to lower her head, not knowing if she could promise Jiya any such thing. "If any of us deserves a true shot at happiness," she stated. "It's you." With that, Jiya stood from the table, giving her one last pat on the shoulder before heading away.

A/N: So basically I'm gonna write as many chapters as is necessary to finish this lol. And I realized halfway through writing this that for what I had planned Jiya had to remember the timeline where Jessica was dead, so I just threw that section about her visions in there to help it all make more sense. Thank you for reading and please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy took Jiya's words and, as much as she wanted to act on them, put them in the back of her mind. There were bigger things to expend her energy on than her love problems. And it appeared to pay off. 6 more months of time jumps and stopping Rittenhouse members, the shadow society had been taken down. Once and for all, they hoped. And best of all, Amy was back. Of course, she currently thought Lucy was dead, but to Lucy that just meant that Amy was going to be just as thrilled to see her as she would be to see Amy.

Although, the relief of knowing her sister was safe and back in reality did little to lighten her heavy, heavy heart because as much as she had missed her kid sister, the ache she had now was from something not even Amy could ease. But if there had ever been anything salvage with her and Wyatt, even after everything with Jessica, it was long past. The relationship they had achieved by the end of their time-traveling career was most comparable to what they had in 1937, 1865, and 1964, tolerating each other enough to get the job done. And everyone had taken notice. The uncomfortableness in the Silo had become almost unbearable. There was less laughing, less joking around, less casual interaction of any kind. But only if Lucy and Wyatt were around.

The family they had built dissolved back into nothing more than co-workers, and so by the time Rittenhouse had been taken down, it felt as if there was no bittersweetness to the goodbyes. Just relief. Everyone would get to go back to the families who thought they had perished.

Mason had already been making plans to rebuild his company (just without the corrupt shadow government pulling the strings). Denise was in line for big promotions at Homeland Security. Rufus and Jiya were talking big life plans. Despite everything else, Lucy was over the moon to be seeing her sister again, and she was a bit relieved to be free from Stanford and go work somewhere she would appreciated. Wyatt, on the other hand, felt like there was nothing for him to go back to. No family. No close friends like Rufus. No Lucy. He would simply go back to Pendleton and be sent off somewhere else. But no mission would ever compare to the one at Mason Industries. Anything else would simply be mundane, pedestrian. The thrill of Delta Force was gone. As glad as he was that they had managed to keep the world intact, he knew all he cared about he was leaving behind in that shitty missile bunker.

The soldier was finishing his packing when he heard a light knock on the door, turning to see Rufus standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you with something, Rufus," he sighed, stuffing a few more shirts into his military-issue rucksack.

"She's leaving, you know," Rufus stated.

"Who's leaving where?" he grunted, hoping he would just get to the point.

"Lucy!" Rufus barked. "She's leaving California. She left the Silo early this morning, saying she was going to pack and try to be gone by Thursday. She said she just needs a fresh start, a-a new beginning where she doesn't have reminders of her mom, or Rittenhouse, or-"

"Me?" he assumed.

"Don't flatter yourself, Wyatt," he spat. "Yeah she loved you, but don't think so much of yourself that she couldn't possibly survive in a place where she might be reminded of you. She might have said things were over between you, but you're the one who blew it."

"I didn't blow anything!" he snapped. "I tried to apologize, tried to make things right and then _she_ gave up on _me._ "

"You really don't know anything, do you?" Rufus accused, taking a step closer. "For someone as strong as Lucy, she's also so scared of loss. She lost everything. Her mom, her sister, her father, the reality she knew, _everything._ Do you know what kind of toll that amount of loss takes on a person? Do you think she would risk putting herself out there again for you? When you up and left her at the drop of a hat?" Wyatt just stood there as Rufus continued his onslaught of accusation because he knew everything Rufus was saying was true. What had he done to prove to Lucy that if she gave him another chance he would never leave her side? Even when she said the chance of them was over, why didn't he fight to keep her?

"Yeah, I get," Rufus shrugged. "You're too proud to admit what you're feeling now, just like you were too proud to admit it back in 1918. But _that's_ your issue, Wyatt. If it's not your pain standing in your way, it's your pride. If you would just put your pride on hold for even a second, you would have a _world_ of possibilities would open up in front of you. Including a future with Lucy." Again Wyatt stood there, speechless. "So if you've got any brain left in that thick skull of yours, I would suggest you run after her because, Wyatt," he stepped closer and put a hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "If you don't, you'll spend your whole life wishing you had." After a moment of silence, Rufus gave Wyatt a sympathetic half smile, a pat on the shoulder and he was gone.

Wyatt had to sit down on the creaky cot in order to avoid falling to the ground. His head was spinning. Rufus' words, Lucy's words, every moment they had spent together, every laugh they all shared, every near death experience, all were flooding his mind. He had wasted every opportunity to tell Lucy just the unreal depth of his love for her. And Rufus had been right. It was because of his pride. He hadn't wanted to admit all the things he'd done wrong, hadn't wanted to seem weak crawling back to Lucy, but _damn it_ that's exactly what he should have done. Because for the past nearly 3 years, she had been the reason he fought. He fought to protect her. To impress her. To show her he was even half as capable of the strength she displayed every time they got out of that Lifeboat. She was his reason. For everything. Without her, what would he be left with?

When he finally had his answer, he darted out of the bunker, leaving his half packed bag on the bed behind him.

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

"Lucy, what has gotten into you?" Amy asked as her sister ran around the house frantically, packing only her essentials. "I haven't seen you in almost a year, I find out mom's been arrested for crazy shit I don't understand, and now you're just up and moving? To Texas of all places? What's going on?" Lucy ignored her sister's interrogation. There was no way she could understand what Lucy was feeling. Remaining in Stanford, California at this point, for Lucy, would be just as suffocating as being in that car as it was sinking. Whether Wyatt was there or not, it would be a reminder of the life that was terrifying, and destructive, and chaotic, and exhilarating, and life-changing, and the most rewarding and thrilling thing Lucy Preston had ever done and probably will ever do.

But for the sake of moving forward, she had to leave all of it behind.

"Amy, you wouldn't understand if I tried to explain it to you," Lucy sighed as she shoved more clothes into a bag. "This is just something I have to do."

"Lucy, this isn't you," Amy pressed. "Rash decisions. No real plan. That's not the Lucy Preston way. The last time I saw you this anxious and reckless was the night you were going to tell mom you were dropping out of Stanford." Lucy almost visibly cringed at the word 'reckless.' She knew whom she drew the tendency from, and a reminder of him was the last thing she needed. She needed to shed any memory of Wyatt Logan like a second skin. "You were running away then, so what is it you're running from now?" _A reckless hothead,_ she thought. _A soldier, a broken man, the only person who made me feel all the cheesy things you hear about in movies, the man I'm just hopelessly in love with._

"I'm _not_ running away, Amy," Lucy snapped. "I have a good job opportunity at the University of Texas, and I'll just stay in a hotel until I get settled. Simple enough."

"That's the thing, Lucy," Amy pointed out, forcibly turning her sister's shoulders to make her face the truth. " _Nothing_ has ever been "simple enough" for you. You make pros and cons lists and budget plans and extensive research notes before you can even go out to a nice dinner, let alone move halfway across the country without somewhere to live, without people to help you, without any plan whatsoever. So I am not letting you leave until you tell me what the hell has gotten into you." She pushed Lucy just hard enough to make the professor plop down on the now bare bed, but she continued her avoidance of eye contact with her baby sister. She knew that if she looked at Amy too long every single feeling she had been harboring would come pouring out into the space between them til the room was filled with heavy emotions and even more questions. Plus she didn't want Amy to know that part of this was because she couldn't stand the thought of ever seeing Wyatt again. It was a weakness she never planned on sharing.

"I've got all the time in the world," Amy shrugged. "You, on the other hand, look like whatever it is you're running from is going to come knocking at our door any second." It was like a scene from a bad movie. As soon as the words left her lips, a loud banging came from the front door downstairs. _Oh goodness, it couldn't possibly be,_ Lucy dreaded, but she knew there was probably no one else it would be. Amy told her to not pack anything else until they had a chance to talk before she made her way downstairs to answer the door.

"Wyatt, what're you-?" Shit.

"I have to talk to Lucy." His voice gave the impression that he had ran all the way from the Silo, but when she thinks about it, it wouldn't surprise her if he had. She knows she has two choices: Stay holed up in her room, hoping he might just leave or Amy would send him away, or go out and face him one last time. She didn't think cowardly hiding away was the most dignified way to end their partnership, so she got to her feet, took a deep breath, and followed the path Amy had taken seconds ago.

"She doesn't seem like she wants to talk to anyone right now," Amy warned, blocking off the door with her arms. "Maybe you should just-"

"Amy," Lucy interrupted what was most likely going to be a fairly nasty threat. "Let him in." Amy glanced over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows in skepticism, silently asking for confirmation. When Lucy nodded, Amy walked into the kitchen, politely but hesitantly giving them their space.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy demanded, crossing her arms in defense. "Don't you have to get back to Pendleton or something?" Wyatt stepped into the house and shrugged.

"Maybe," he said, stepping a bit closer. "But there's something I have to get back first."

"What's that?" She asked impatiently, wanting to get through this with as little fluff as possible.

"My historian," he admitted.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Horrible way to start this."

"Lucy, please," he pleaded, taking a gentle hold on her wrist when she tried to turn away.

"What are you doing, Wyatt?" The words were hardly audible as they fell from her lips. "It would've been so much easier for you to just walk away." For him _and_ for her.

"Yeah it would've been," he admitted, coming closer until they were nearly breathing the same air. "But I learned from some bossy know-it-all that what's right and what's easy aren't always the same thing." She could feel the tears tugging on her lashes, tears of anger and pain, begging to be free to fall. But she learned the hard way that being free to fall sucked.

"I know I could fall to my knees right and try to explain away every dick move I made over the past few months, but there's no explaining it. I played too loosely with your heart and you deserve so much better than that. I'm so sorry, Lucy." His calloused thumb traced the path of a tear that had fallen, leading him to cup her soft cheek in his palm and lean in.

"No, Wyatt!" she hissed, pushing him back. "You don't get to come in here with some smooth words and expect me to just fall back to you. That's not how this works! Not when you're still too afraid or closed off or proud or whatever to just say what you feel. No, you have to tiptoe around it. You're right, I do deserve better."

"So what exactly is it that you want, Lucy?" he snapped. "Cause I'm damn near out of ideas." Lucy stepped back and threw her hands in the air.

"Tell me you love me," she ordered. "Tell me you hate me, tell me whatever, but for once tell me something real. I can't stand playing coy with you anymore! What with all the possibilities and almost moments. You and I so far have just added up to a whole bunch of maybes. Give me something certain. Something I can grab onto because if you hadn't noticed, most of the life I thought I knew fell through my fingers. So give me that or just get-" Wyatt reached forward, grabbed her around the head, and slammed his lips into hers. She had been right. The time for words and explanations was over, so he gave her something real.

The kiss was raw and angry and vulnerable and full of every emotion she had felt since they returned from 1941. She felt like 1000 volts of electricity had been pumped into her system, like his hand burned trails of fire as he ran them down her back, then like he was dragging ice across her hips, making her shiver. Every nerve end was lit up at the feel of him. He shocked the life back into her, and she feared that if she let this, let him, go again, the life would slip away from her. But as he hauled her hips into his, any fear she had melted away, and when he ordered her mouth open with his tongue, so left any thoughts in her mind. All the frustration from weeks of things unsaid was now heat radiating through their skin. The fire between them was immense and wasn't going to be put out until everything that could have been, was. He tore his mouth from hers and began a cascade of rough kisses and near painful bites along her neck.

"Amy!" Lucy hollered between gasps. "Get out!" Lucy knew that what was coming next was going to be loud and not in consideration of whoever else was in the house.

"Aye aye, cap'n," the blonde answered, barely catching a glimpse of what was happening in the entryway before making a quick exit out of the house. Wyatt grabbed her around the thighs and tugged upwards, encouraging her to jump up and latch her legs around his hips before slamming her back against the nearest wall. What would have beens moans of pleasure in most instances were coming out as growls between the couple. They were still angry, but not so much at each other anymore. They were angry that they had almost missed this. Missed each other. Angry that people, circumstances, life had nearly succeeded at keeping them apart. And, still, a bit angry with each other.

"Lucy," he groaned as her hips snapped against his. "Maybe we need to-"

"No," Lucy growled in response, tugging at his shirt. "No more talking." Wyatt didn't need to be told twice. He hoisted her up off the wall and, with her light frame, had no issue carrying her around his hips up the stairs.

"Which room?" he mumbled against her lips.

"On the right," she panted as he nipped at her exposed collarbone. There was little mind paid to salvaging whatever clothing either of them was wearing. It was all junk from the silo. Shirts were ripped, zippers were torn off, but it all ended up on the floor.

Lucy had never been one for much noise during sex, but that was before this. Before him. She was very glad she had kicked Amy out of the house because as scandalous as her little was, even Amy would be shocked with the noises coming from Lucy's bedroom.

But somewhere in all the swirling passion, their tempers eased. They clung each other more, Wyatt twined their hands and pushed them into the mattress, their kisses became more slower and longer even as the tempo of thrusts increased.

They had been so close to losing all of this, and that was starting to dawn on them. Lucy cried out one more time as she shattered beneath him, and he followed soon after, but after he collapsed on top of her, neither of them had any desire to move ever again. Wyatt began kissing every place he had left a mark before finding her lips again. It wasn't a fight anymore, but a sensual dance of tongues that kept both of their hearts racing.

"Lucy," he whispered against her lips. "I need to tell you something."

"Wyatt, you don't-" she tried to protest, fearing words would break whatever fragile thing was starting to blossom between them once again.

"Yes, I do," he stated gently, brushing some stray hairs away from her eyes which turned to gold from the setting sun streaming through the curtains. "You were right before. For some reason, I've been terrified of the truth staring me in the face, and it nearly cost me you. I'm not going to risk that happening again."

"Wyatt-"

"I love you, Lucy," he confessed. "I've been in love with you for so damn long that I can't remember when it began. I'm sorry that I wasted so much time because there was never a doubt in my mind that you belong with me. You were never a second place. Never a consolation prize. You are everything I've fought for since we went to the Hindenburg, and I was an idiot to think it was anything else. Please understand that I never meant to hurt you, and that if I could do it all over again… I'd save you from any pain of thinking that you weren't the sole thing on my mind because you were then just like you are now." He took a second to let the weight of his confession sink in. "You wanted something real, so there it is." For the second time that day, tears were building in her eyes, but for the first time in a long time they weren't tears of sadness, anger, or longing but tears of hope. "Hey," he whispered, chasing the tears off her cheeks with his thumb. "No reason to cry over little old me." Before he had a second to react, Lucy was flipping them over, kissing him like he didn't think he had ever been kissed before. The kiss of a woman who thought she had completely lost everything but had found something. And what was even better is that she was _laughing._ Pure, unadulterated laughter. A sound he hadn't heard in so long. Happiness radiated off of her, and in the glow of the sun, she was golden. Her hair like a halo, framing her beautiful face.

"So that's what you wanted?" he laughed, running his hand up along her bare back. She leaned back in real close, placing another intoxicating kiss on his lips.

"I love you too," she answered. The words leaving her mouth as easily as the air she was releasing. Wrapped in golden sunlight, wrapped in each other, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, there was nothing to run from, nothing to run toward. They stopped running when they found each other, and, this time, they were going to make sure it stayed that way.

A/N: The end! I'm thinking of doing a cute epilogue where Rufus and Jiya bask in the success of their meddling, so please review and let me know if that is something you'd enjoy! Thank you all for the support of my first attempt at Timeless fanfiction! If you need something else to read, go check out my Lyatt high school au Lyatt fic Dancing in the Minefields!

-Your Modern Life Historian


End file.
